Almost every aspect of the year 2020 has been negatively affected by Coronavirus. It has impacted our heath, economy, politics, education, and various religious practices. It has even altered the way we enjoy some of our favourite Christmas traditions due to the social distancing and health restrictions that have been put in place. Almost everything has been touched by COVID-19 this year.
But do you know one thing that a virus can never touch? It can’t touch the true meaning of Christmas. In this short Christmas message, we will be reminded of the untouchable, unshakable, unchangeable heart of what Christmas really is.
Transcription (automatically-generated):
I was nine years old when M.C. Hammer came out with his hit song, You Can't Touch This really interesting lyrics and I don't know if any of you remember that song. If you're over 20, you probably do.
When he sang that song, you can't touch this. He's actually referring to himself, but he's not speaking literally. M.C. Hammer was not the same. Nobody around me could not physically touch me because we know that's not true, because I thought of a way that I could easily touch M.C. Hammer. Even if he didn't want to be touched, I would just come up to him and then say, M.C. Hammer, look over there. And then when he turned his head, I would just just touch him.
So he's not being literal with those lyrics. But what he's saying is this when he says you can't touch this and when he's speaking about himself, he was saying this, that I'm so famous, I got so much money, I'm such a good rapper, that there's nothing that you could do to affect me. You can't alter my greatness. You can't change anything about me. I'm so above you. I'm untouchable. You can't touch this is what he meant.
And it hit me this week that you can't touch.
This is actually a perfect song to describe Christmas in twenty twenty. You see, covid-19 has touched the year twenty twenty in a massive way. Health, travel, economy, politics, religion. I can go on and on, but the virus has affected almost everything and covid-19 will even touch some of the traditions that we normally enjoy around the Christmas season. Family dinners, Christmas parties hanging with friends, Christmas outings. These will be affected by covid-19 this year.
covid has touched these things, but you want to know something that it hasn't touched. covid-19 cannot touch what Christmas is truly all about, covid can't change Christmas, covid can't limit Christmas, covid can't harm Christmas.
Christmas is so above covid-19 that it is, in the words of M.C. Hammer, untouchable.
Now, I want to share parts of the Christmas story with you, and as I do, I'm going to highlight how untouchable Christmas really is.
The Christmas is a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. For centuries before Jesus was born. God had been promising that he would send the world a savior, someone who would come to deliver people from their sins. And Jesus was born into the world to do just that. The birth of Jesus Christ fulfilled many biblical prophecies. The gospel writer Matthew describes the birth of Jesus in his gospel and also the period before Jesus begins to preach. He cites the Old Testament fulfillments of these things.
The Savior is born of a virgin. The Savior is born in the city of Bethlehem. The Savior fled to Egypt, then later returned. The Savior had an early attempt made on his life, and the Savior grew up in Nazareth.
In a careful checking of these events will reveal Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ. Now, covid-19 cannot touch that. It cannot alter history.
That's already happened. Is it Christmas is also the reality of the virgin birth, Christmas is when God became flesh and dwelt among us.
You would think that if God was ever going to be born into humanity, that his birth, he would make a kind of entrance that would be different than the millions of people that were born before him and the millions of people that were born after him. And he didn't make the entrance, didn't he? Isaiah, chapter seven, verse 14, reads like this written seven hundred years before Jesus was born. Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign.
Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us to Jesus was born of a virgin. It was a miracle. The virgin birth of Christ allowed Jesus to bypass the sin that the rest of us inherited from our forefathers.
Adam, we were all born directly into Adam's family lineage, and all of us have inherited his sin nature. But because of his virgin birth, Jesus was born outside of that line.
Sin couldn't touch him. covid-19 cannot touch the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. Also, there was no room for Jesus on that first Christmas, the Jesus was born and there was no room for him in the inn. So the king of heaven was laid in a manger instead. And that same scene has been unfolding in a spiritual way all over the world ever since.
Jesus wants to wants a place to dwell in the heart of every single person. But more often than not, people don't have room in their life for Jesus either. He wants to come in and people put up a no vacancy sign on their life. They go to tell Jesus to find a different place to dwell. There's no room for him here. Now, the fact that Jesus was laid in a manger when he was born, that fact covid-19 can't touch that.
The Angels announced the first Christmas I can imagine a rich person today, a person of of wealth and of means having a child and because of their connections and with their money, I can imagine this wealthy individual paying someone like Justin Bieber a fair sum of money to put out on his Instagram account a message welcoming the new child into this family's life.
I could imagine, for the right price, be Beeb's saying something like this. Congratulations to the Mackenzie family as they welcome their new baby girl, Jenna, into this world.
And then millions of people will see that on his social media platform. But when the savior of the world was born, God arranged for a host of angels to leave the heavenly dimension and penetrate our earthly one in order to make known to the world that the king is here.
Listen to what Luke says in his gospel Chapter two, starting in Verse 8. And in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night and an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, Fear not for behold. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For Unto You is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord.
And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger Verse 8 13. And suddenly there is, with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying Glory to God in the highest and on Earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. Angels proclaimed the arrival of the king and covid-19 can never, ever touch that. Christmas also reminds us that God is for the outcast among us.
I'm going to continue reading in Luke Chapter two and pick it up in verse 15. When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherd said to one another, Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that's happened, which the Lord has made known to us. And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the scene that had been told them concerning this child and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.
The angels came to shepherds and Shepherd in was not a well respected profession. Back in the day, the public looked down upon you if you were a shepherd by trade. The lowliest in society were the first to have this news of the birth of the Savior preached to them, and they came to see what they were told. See, at Christmas, God became lowly. For the lowly that's what he did on Christmas and covid-19 cannot touch that. Christmas also reveals that God is for everyone all over the world.
God didn't just come for people who are like us. You remember the story that the star led wise men from the East to bring them to Jesus. These weren't Jews. These were Asians. Different language, different culture, different beliefs. But the God of the Hebrews is their God, too. And he came from them, too. And he met them in a way in which they could respond to him. He gave them a star, and they follow the star all the way to the king.
God has come for every person from every tribe, every nation and every language to Jesus is not just a Christian savior.
He is humanity's savior. He is the savior of the entire world. He is the only savior. And Jesus has come for everyone. And covid-19 cannot touch that. On Christmas, gifts were given to Jesus. What did the wise men do when they finally made it all the way to Jesus? Well, they gave him gifts. Go figure. Right. It was Jesus birthday after all that we're celebrating. He got gold, frankincense and myrrh gifts fit for a king.
And where to give gifts to this to, but don't worry, if you don't have enough saved up in your piggy bank to give Jesus a gift of gold, he doesn't want that. Here's what the king of heaven wants. He just wants your life. All of it laid down at his feet, that's why Jesus came so that you could come to him and give all of your life to follow him. See, covid-19 can't touch that.
And Christmas. It also challenges our idolatry, see, when King Jesus was born, that meant there was another king in Israel now. And you know who was bothered by that the most? The current king in Israel at the time, the Herod was king. And when he got the news that another king had been born, he wasn't all too excited about that idea. He wasn't excited about another king coming to compete for his throne. So Herod sent men to Bethlehem, where he found out where Jesus was.
And he had all baby boys, two years old and under slaughter to try to eliminate this king Matthew. Chapter two verses 16 to 18. Read it like this. Then Herod, when he saw that he'd been tricked by the Wise Men, became furious and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who are two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the men then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah.
A voice was heard in Rama, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children. She refused to be comforted because they are no more Sceats Harsh Herod tried to kill baby Jesus. But on a spiritual level, people do the same thing today. See, Jesus is your king.
Whether you bow your need to him or not, he is the rightful ruler over your life and he's come for the throne of your heart.
That's what Christmas is all about. And you can respond in one of two ways. You can respond like Mary did when the angel came to her to tell her the good news. Listen to how Mary responded to God's will being revealed to her. Luke Chapter one Verse is 30, verse 38, says this. Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me, according to your word. And the angel departed from her.
The Meredith deferred to God, she humbled herself before him, she recognized that God alone is king. So you can respond like Mary or you can respond like Herod. Doing whatever it takes to secure control of your life and try to eliminate Jesus from having his rightful place as ruler in your life, that's the choice that's available to everyone in the world today.
And Jesus is your king. covid-19 cannot touch that. Lastly, Christmas is about life and death. Jesus was born to die at the beginning of his life.
Jesus was laid in a manger and at the end of his life, Jesus was laid on a cross.
That's why he was born. He came in order to die for our sins. He came to show us God by showing us himself. He came to make a way for sinful humanity to be forgiven and so that we could have a way to a relationship with the one true God, repent and believe on Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins and you will be saved. covid-19 cannot touch that. See, I don't think M.C. Hammer knew that 30 years ago he put out a song that would be a Christmas song this year, but he did anyway.
And to all the members of New Hope Church and God Rock Church and all of our friends and guests watching this message with us tonight and having enjoying the service with us tonight, I want you to think about these things that I've just shared with you this Christmas. The way that we experience Christmas this year will be affected by covid-19, no doubt. But covid-19 cannot touch what Christmas is really all about. Nothing can touch it because Christmas is Jesus Ribeira heads and pray with me.
Lord, it is simple prayer. On the first Christmas, you you broke into this world by being born into it, the incarnation happened so that you could reveal yourself to the world, but you could die for the world.
But you came near you penetrated you broke in in a way that that we could look back and know that God's here among us and my prayer is simple, or for this Christmas season that you would incarnate your love in the lives of people all over the world, especially those who are watching this service with us now, no matter where any of us are in our journey of faith in knowing you and following you, would you would you reveal yourself when you break into our lives in a fresh way, in a new way and an alter our lives, change them, Lord, for the better, for the good.
But Lord, whatever it takes to be the center of our lives, you are the center of Christmas. And I, my prayer Lord is that you would continually be the center of all all of our lives.
Do that we pray, Lord, for our deepest joy and for your greatest glory, we pray amen. Amen.